Wild bear killed by 'deliberate' poisoning in Italy

A wild bear that was found dead in Italy was deliberately poisoned, investigators have revealed, raising fears that local people are so opposed to the reintroduction of the animals that they are resorting to killing them illegally.

The large male bear was one of about 50 that roams the forests and valleys of the Dolomites, after the species was reintroduced to northern Italy in the 1990s.

The eight-year-old bear was found dead in March in Val di Non, a valley in Trentino, and an examination of its corpse has shown that it was poisoned. Another bear was found poisoned in the same area in March last year.

Bears are a protected species in Italy and anyone found guilty of killing one risks up to a year in prison.

“Bears do not present a threat at all,” Claudio Grof, who is involved in the bear reintroduction project, told Corriere della Sera newspaper. “The number of bears is perfectly sustainable in Trentino. Unfortunately people fear things that they do not understand.”

Wladimir Molinari said the bear chased him, pulled him to the ground and bit him in the face, arms and chest. "At a certain point I heard a sound behind me and there was the bear, following me at a distance of about 10 metres," the 45-year-old said at the time as he recovered in hospital.

"I did just as you are meant to – I stopped, raised my arms and started gesticulating and shouting. But the bear attacked me and started biting me. My dog tried to drive the bear away, but it was 10 times the size of him," Mr Molinari said.

"The bear was biting my face. I grabbed his ears and tried to push him away but I wasn't able to. I was convinced that he was going to kill me with a last blow from his paws but instead he ran off."

Brown bears were driven almost to extinction in Italy after centuries of trapping, shooting and poaching.

In the late 1990s, 10 bears were introduced from neighbouring Slovenia as part of a European Union-funded project to re-establish the species in Italy.